Trim piece cover for a refrigerator door

ABSTRACT

A trim piece cover member for a refrigerator door is snap-fittingly secured to and extends along substantially an entire length of a trim piece to hide a plurality of mechanical fasteners. The trim piece includes a channel that extends longitudinally along an outer exposed surface. The channel includes a base portion, as well as first and second opposing side portions. The plurality of mechanical fasteners extend through the base portion and into the refrigerator door. The cover includes a generally planer surface portion from which extend first and second side walls that terminate in corresponding tab members which are snap-fittingly received in recesses of the channel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a trim piece cover for a refrigerator door.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Refrigerators of various models and sizes are well known in the art. Typical refrigerator models include top mount, bottom mount and side-by-side configurations. In addition, many refrigerators are available in a variety of standard or custom colors to match a consumer's particular kitchen decor. In today's market, it is becoming more popular to recess refrigerators between adjacent cabinetry or the like in a kitchen area in order to provide a built-in look which is considered by many to be more aesthetically appealing. Often times, the refrigerators include wood or wood-like panels that enable the refrigerator to more completely blend in with adjacent cabinetry. Since front doors of a refrigerator must be spaced from any adjacent structure in order to enable the free pivoting of the doors, the refrigerator must project outward from the adjacent structure to some degree. Unfortunately, this outward projection of the refrigerator exposes, to a certain degree, frontal portions of the side walls of the cabinet and/or outer peripheral edges of the refrigerator doors. The exposed side walls and/or outer peripheral edges can detract from the overall built-in appearance.

To compensate for this potential aesthetics problem, it has been proposed to provide cosmetic trim pieces along exposed side portions of the cabinet to blend the side portions with the adjacent structure. In addition, trim pieces are also provided on the outer peripheral edges of the doors to provide a finished appearance and serve as structure to retain decorative panels if so provided. Typically, the trim pieces are secured to the exposed side portions of the cabinet and/or outer peripheral edges of the doors with adhesive or mechanical fasteners. In addition to trim pieces, handles must also be fastened to the doors to allow a consumer to readily gain access to refrigerated compartments. In some cases, the handles are secured at upper and lower portions thereof with clips and/or mechanical fasteners to front face portions of the door. In other cases, the handles are secured to side edges of the door.

One drawback associated with employing mechanical fasteners to secure trim pieces and/or handles to a refrigerator door is that the fasteners are exposed and may ultimately detract from an overall finished or seamless appearance of the appliance. In the case of door handles, the fasteners are often hidden by covers that snap-fit onto the handle. That is, once the handle is secured, individual covers are applied to hide the mechanical fasteners. Unfortunately, this method does not apply to refrigerators that include outer decorative panels, as the handles are often times secured to side edge portions of the door or to the outer decorative panels themselves. When mounting trim pieces or handles to the side edge portions of doors, the mechanical fasteners typically remain exposed, or are covered by small individual caps that may fall off over time. Leaving the fasteners exposed or providing small caps that can be dislodged are not effective solutions, particularly in high end models that strive to ensure a seamless appearance.

Another solution employed by manufacturers to hide the mechanical fasteners is to incorporate a cover into the trim piece. The cover extends a length of the door and is held in place by magnets. The trim piece includes a channel or depression that extends the length of the door. Mechanical fasteners extend through the channel and into the side edge portions of the door. Once the trim piece is secured, the cover is nested into the channel and held in place by magnets, as well as portions of upper and lower trim pieces. While effective, the use of magnets limits the type of material that can be employed in manufacturing the trim piece. Moreover, incorporating magnets into the covers adds to an overall cost and complexity of manufacture of the appliance.

Based on the above, there exists a need for a cover that effectively hides mechanical fasteners employed to secure trim pieces to exposed edge portions of a refrigerator. More specifically, there exists a need for a cover that extends along an entire length of an outer side edge portion of a door and snap-fits into a trim piece to cover mechanical fasteners that secure the trim piece to side edge portions of a refrigerator door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a refrigerator including a cabinet having a liner arranged therein that defines a refrigerated compartment. A door is pivotally mounted relative to the cabinet for selectively closing, at least in part, the refrigerated compartment. The door includes top, bottom and opposing side edge portions that collectively define an inner surface portion and an outer surface portion. The door is provided with a trim piece that includes an outer exposed surface substantially, entirely covering at least one of the edge portions. The trim piece is secured to the door with a plurality of mechanical fasteners that extend through the outer, exposed surface and into the at least one edge portion. In accordance with the invention, a cover member is snap-fittingly attached to the trim piece to hide the mechanical fasteners. Preferably, the cover member extends along and is secured to substantially an entire length of the trim piece through a snap-fit arrangement.

In further accordance with the invention, the trim piece includes a channel that is formed in and extends longitudinally along the outer exposed surface. The channel includes a base portion and first and second opposing side portions. More specifically, each of the first and second opposing side portions of the channel includes a respective recess. The cover member includes a generally planer surface portion from which extends laterally outward, first and second side walls, each of which terminates in a respected tab member. With this construction, the plurality of mechanical fasteners extend through the base portion of the channel and engage into the door to retain the trim piece. Once the trim piece is secured, the cover member nests within the channel, with the first and second side walls abutting the first and second side portions of the channel and the tab members snap-fittingly engaging into a corresponding recess.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper left perspective view of a built-in side-by-side refrigerator incorporating a trim cover constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of an upper corner portion of a fresh food compartment door of the refrigerator of FIG. 1 illustrating a door trim piece and trim cover of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the trim piece and trim cover of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With initial reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator, generally indicated at 2, includes a cabinet 4 having a liner 6 that defines a fresh food compartment 8. Refrigerator 2 also includes another liner (not shown) that defines a freezer compartment 11. In the embodiment shown, refrigerator 2 is a built-in model which is recessed into a wall adjacent cabinetry 13 that includes a plurality of cabinet doors 15-20. Refrigerator 2 includes a fresh food compartment door 30 pivotally mounted to cabinet 4, as well as a freezer compartment door 31 having arranged thereon a dispenser 34. In addition to fresh food and freezer compartment doors 30 and 31, refrigerator 2 also includes an upper, mechanical compartment door 37 behind which are arranged various components of a refrigeration system (not shown). With this construction, refrigerator 2 constitutes a side-by-side model. However, it should be understood that the present invention can also be incorporated into other models, such as top mount, bottom mount and French-Style door units.

In accordance with the invention, fresh food compartment door 30 includes a top edge portion 45, a bottom edge portion 46 and opposing side edge portions 47 and 48 that define an inner surface portion 50 and an outer surface portion 51. Edge portions 45-48 are covered by a plurality of trim pieces, two of which are indicated at 57 and 58 located on top edge portion 45 and side edge portion 47 respectively. Preferably, fresh food compartment door 30 also includes at least two additional trim pieces (not shown) provided on bottom edge portion 46 and side edge portion 48 to establish a finished or seamless appearance for refrigerator 2. In addition to providing a more finished appearance, trim pieces 57 and 58 also provide structure for retaining an outer, decorative panel 60 extending along outer surface portion 51 of fresh food compartment door 30. Outer decorative panel 60 preferably matches corresponding cabinet doors 15-20. However, other types of panels could also be employed. Fresh food compartment door 30 further includes a handle 64 which, as will be discussed more fully below, is integrally formed with trim piece 58. At this point, it should be understood that freezer compartment door 31 is similarly constructed and includes top, bottom and opposing side edge portions (not labeled) provided with corresponding trim pieces (also not labeled) and a handle 68.

In further accordance with the invention, trim piece 58 includes a first end portion 88 that extends to a second end portion 89 through an intermediate portion 90. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, trim piece 58 includes first and second outer exposed surfaces 93 and 94, with second outer exposed surface 94 including a curved section 97 that leads to handle 64. First and second outer exposed surfaces 93 and 94 are separated by a channel 100 that extends longitudinally along and substantially an entire length of side edge portion 47. In addition to channel 100, trim piece 58 includes a retainer member 106 that extends outward from second outer exposed surface 94 and is provided with a spacer element 108 which defines a flange 110. Flange 110 extends over and retains outer decorative panel 60 against outer surface portion 51 of fresh food compartment door 30. Finally, trim piece 58 is shown to include an extrusion 113 that projects from retainer member 106. Extrusion 113 establishes a cavity structure that receives post, a mechanical fastener or the like (not shown) that extends downward from trim piece 57.

In still further accordance with the invention, channel 100 preferably includes a base portion 140 having first and second side walls 142 and 143, each of which has a corresponding recess 146 and 147. A plurality of mechanical fasteners, two of which are indicated at 154 and 155, extend through base portion 140 into opposing side edge portion 47 to secure trim piece 58 to fresh food compartment door 30. In order to provide a more finished appearance for refrigerator 2, a cover 160 is positioned within channel 100 to hide mechanical fasteners 154 and 155.

In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, cover 160 includes an outer, generally planar surface 170 and first and second side members 172 and 173. First and second side members 172 and 173 extend generally perpendicularly from outer surface 170 and terminate in corresponding deflectable tab members 178 and 179. With this construction, once trim piece 58 is secured to side edge portion 47 of fresh food compartment door 30, cover 160 is positioned at channel 100. At this point, a slight pressure is applied to cover 160, causing tab members 178 and 179 to snap-fittingly engage into respective ones of recesses 146 and 147, thereby securing cover 160 to trim piece 58, with surface 120 of cover 160 being preferably flush with surfaces 93 and 94. In this manner, refrigerator 2 is provided with a readily mounted aesthetic cover that hides mechanical fasteners employed in securing a trim piece to an outer exposed edge of fresh food compartment door 30. Again, similar structure is preferably employed about fresh food compartment door 30, as well as freezer compartment door 31.

Although described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, while the present invention is shown employed in connection with a trim piece that defines a handle for the refrigerator door, it should be understood that the handle could be formed as a separate piece or attached to the outer decorative panel and not necessarily formed as part of the trim piece. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims. 

1. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet; a liner arranged within the cabinet defining a refrigerated compartment; a door pivotally mounted relative to the cabinet for selectively closing, at least in part, the refrigerated compartment, said door including top, bottom and opposing side edge portions that collectively define an inner surface portion and an outer surface portion; a trim piece substantially entirely covering at least one of the opposing side edge portions of the door, said trim piece including an outer, exposed surface; a plurality of mechanical fasteners extending through the outer, exposed surface into the at least one of the opposing side edge portions to retain the trim piece on the door; and a cover snap-fittingly secured to and extending along substantially an entire length of the trim piece to cover the plurality of mechanical fasteners.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the trim piece includes a channel that extends longitudinally along substantially an entire length of the outer, exposed surface, said cover being nested in the channel.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the channel includes a base portion having first and second side walls, each of said first and second side walls including a recess.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the cover includes an outer surface and first and second side members, each of said first and second side members extending substantially perpendicularly from the outer surface and terminate in corresponding tab members.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein each tab member snap-fittingly engages with a respective recess to snap-fittingly retain the cover on the trim piece.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the trim piece is integrally formed with a door handle for the refrigerator.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator constituted a side-by-side model.
 8. A method of securing a trim piece to an outer, peripheral edge portion of a refrigerator door having top, bottom and opposing side edge portions comprising: positioning a plurality of trim pieces against corresponding ones of each of the top, bottom and opposing side edge portions of the door, at least one of the plurality of trim pieces including a channel having a base portion; securing the at least one trim piece to one of the opposing side edge portions with mechanical fasteners, with said mechanical fasteners extending through the base portion and into the door; and hiding the mechanical fasteners with a cover snap-fittingly secured in the channel, said cover extending substantially an entire length of the one of the opposing side edge portions.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: snap-fitting the cover into the channel formed in the trim piece.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cover includes first and second tab members that snap-fit into corresponding recesses formed in the channel. 